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Features of Unity in the Civilization of the Islamic World

Ayyubids & Mamluks

    Their role was not restricted to defending Islam against the Crusaders and Mongols; they also played a great part 11 in spreading it among the Nubians in the Sudan in the south and the Mongols of Kipchak around the Black Sea in the, north. Egypt in general has been concerned with the Kingdom of Nubia in the upper Nile. Nubians were Christians affiliated with the Egyptian orthodox church. They have been loyal to the Sultan of Egypt since the treaty concluded , with the Arab general Abdullah Ibn S'ad Ibn Abi Sarh in 30 A.H. (650 A.O.). However, they quite often raided upper ; Egypt by land and down the Nile, so the governors of Egypt sent forces to Nubia to enforce the Pactum convention. These campaigns encouraged some Arab tribes to settle there and to live among its people especially in the Al : Mrayyes area. Rabi'a Arabs, for instance, married daughters of Nubian chiefs and had material interests as a result of , the inheritance system there. So the Rabi'a became influential in the Aswan region and further south. Good relations developed between the Rabi'a and the Fatimids in Egypt. The Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakem bi Amr ; Allah sought their assistance in recapturing the Moroccan rebel Abi Rakwa when he escaped to Nubia. Abu al-Makarem, the Amir of Rabi'a arrested him and handed him over to the Fatimids who rewarded him with the title 'Kanz al-Oawla' i.e. The Treasure of the State, a title which they have maintained until today. They are the tribes who : were living in High Dam area.

    At the beginning of Saladin's reign, Nubian attacks on Egyptian territories were resumed and continued during the rule of the First Mamluk State. Punitive expeditions were sent during Saladin's Al-Zaher Baybars and Seif El Din Qalawum reigns. As a result the Nubian Kingdom became more and more Arabized and less Christian. By the mid-8th century A.H. (14th century A.O.) the Nubians embraced Islam; the Bani Kanz became kings and the tribute paid by Nubians was abolished.